The Council of the European Union adopted a decision guaranteeing the continuation of European funding for the International Nuclear Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER) project within the framework of the EU 2021-2027 budget on Monday 22 February, on the occasion of the meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States (see other news).
“The indicative European contribution to the project for the period 2021-2027 is set at €5.61 billion in current prices”, says the EU Council press release.
Signed in 2006 by the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), the United States, the Russian Federation, Japan, China, South Korea and India, the ITER agreement aims to build and operate a reactor to test the feasibility of using fusion as an energy source.
This is a long-term project since, according to the Commission, fusion as a commercially viable energy source is not expected to produce electricity before 2050.
For its part, the European Parliament, which does not have co-legislative power on this dossier, approved the proposal for a decision on 15 January 2019 (see EUROPE 12172/16).
See the EU Council decision: https://bit.ly/3sb9nyi (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)